Columbia Association cuts gym towels from budget - baltimoresun.com: "Members of the Columbia Association's three gyms can wave their free towels goodbye starting Nov. 1, the result of an austere budget proposed for the next two years that would also reduce employee pay raises but leave residents' property lien fees unchanged"---------The horror. The horror.Thanks to Fred Pilot for this sign of the apocalypse.

'We've got a lot of work to do, and we're securing and getting those relief efforts in there,' said Gen. Douglas Fraser, commander of U.S. Southern Command. 'That's what we're going to continue to do, and that's the best way we can reduce the aspect of people wanting to leave the island.'

If those efforts fail and Haitians do try to flee, several 'options are on the table,' one official said.Among the options being considered is use of part of the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."------------------oh, the irony. Obama has been screaming about closing Gitmo for two years. And now...maybe it comes in handy for him. If they can't use Gitmo, they either turn back these poor people to anarchy, dysentery, and possible starvation...or let them move to Miami.

The Galveston County Daily News: "GALVESTON — Some West End homeowners, worried about the city’s plans for beach-front properties acquired through a federal buyout program, want the city to restrict what it does with the newly public land in their neighborhoods. As part of its agreement to buy 64 hurricane-damaged houses under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, the city asked those property owners to obtain releases from the homeowners associations so the city wouldn’t have to pay association fees or follow deed restrictions. Homeowners associations typically have some legal authority through deed covenants over how property is used. However, some homeowners associations are refusing to release the properties until the city agrees to leave the land as open space, City Attorney Susie Green said.

Although the federal government allows it, neighbors don’t want the city to transform the properties into camping sites, public bathrooms or unpaved parking lots, she said."------------And of course the city council isn't interested in being dictated to by a bunch of HOA directors. Thanks to Bill Davis for this fascinating story.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Coakley cites GOP ‘stalkers’ in D.C. dust-up - BostonHerald.com: "Bay State Attorney General Martha Coakley blamed GOP “stalkers” today for triggering tensions outside a Washington, D.C., fund-raiser last night where a Weekly Standard reporter said he was roughed up by a Coakley campaign volunteer."-------Great spin by the Boston Herald. Her (Democrat) staffer shoves a reporter to the ground. What's the headline? It's the fault of the Republican Party. That's what the (Democrat) candidate says, so that's the angle.

Cash for saving energy? California considers this and first statewide green building code - Green House - USATODAY.com: "California, long a trendsetter for eco-friendly living, is breaking ground again this week. It's set, as early as today, to adopt the nation's first statewide green building code, which environmentalists say is not tough enough, and is also considering paying residents to cut their energy use."----------California is indeed a trend setter. If the trend is going broke. And now they are adding yet more government-imposed limitations on the construction industry in the middle of the worst housing market collapse in 70 years.

“We recognize they have enormous problems,” David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, said in an interview. “But we can’t solve all of those problems from Washington.”"--------Yes. And there isn't any cavalry riding to the rescue of California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, or any other insolvent state. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the update.

'We need a police station in our area, that would help. That's the first step,' said resident James Jackson.

The Jefferson-Chalmers Homeowners Association is pushing for its own police precinct, which residents said will hopefully stand right in the heart of the neighborhood"----------Thanks to Fred Pilot for this story about an HOA that is turning to local government for help. They are leveraging their organizational capacities and numbers. But all the libertarians tell us that HOAs are better than cities. Go figure.

The Galveston County Daily News: "GALVESTON — A West End property owner is suing Bank of America Corp., asserting its agents mistakenly seized a vacation house he owns free and clear, then changed the locks and shut the power off, resulting in the smelly spoiling of about 75 pounds of salmon and halibut from an Alaska fishing trip and other damages."------------Another grabby bank. Not yours.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been leading the charge to get more federal funds for his state, hoping to fill a $19.9-billion hole. The governor argues that California should get $6.9 billion from the federal government."-------------It seems that some governors are ticked off that Nebraska got a big pot of Medicare money as part of Obama, Inc., buying Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson's vote. Now the White House is willing to "talk" about doing the same for everybody else. And if they give money to California, don't they have to copy that all around as well? There are 50 of these little hungry mouths to feed, and 2/3 of them are in rocky financial shape.

But now he is glad that his neighbors dropped their restrictions and let the HOA die. He finds them to be more neighborly."--------------But the article claims a study shows associations don't kill the sense of community.

State of the states? Broke and going broker: "As of December, the National Conference of State Legislatures fiscal survey found: “Thirty-six states already report another round of gaps since FY 2010 began. The total now hit $28.2 billion, and the fiscal year for most states doesn’t end until June.” They already are in the hole despite raising taxes, cutting spending, squandering “rainy day” funds and using federal debt and accounting tricks to close $146 billion in cumulative budget gaps.

Those shortfalls pale against the lurid reality of unfunded promises to retirees, deferred public works projects and years of accounting tricks hiding true deficits.

Compounding all that is the fact that $248 billion in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds stop Dec. 31, halfway through most states’ fiscal years."------------Remember how the housing market was obviously going to crash, and a few people were predicting it but the mainstream media didn't bother to cover it until it happened? Well, now a few people are saying that most of the states are in major financial trouble. And what do the media giants have to say about it? Very little. They talk about their own states finances, but not the bigger picture, which is that most of the state governments will have to radically raise taxes or radically cut spending in the next 12 months.